page_title: Mediterranean Sea
section_title: Other features
hierarchical_section_title: Mediterranean Sea / Geography / Subdivisions / Other features
caption_attribution_description: Port Autonome de Marseille
context_page_description: The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant. Although the sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is usually referred to as a separate body of water. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago.
  It covers an area of about 2,500,000 km², representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar—the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa—is only 14 km wide. In oceanography, it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea, the European Mediterranean Sea or the African Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere.
context_section_description: In addition to the seas, a number of gulfs and straits are recognised:
  the Saint George Bay in Beirut, Lebanon
  the Ras Ibn Hani cape in Latakia, Syria
  the Ras al-Bassit cape in northern Syria.
  the Minet el-Beida ("White Harbour") bay near ancient Ugarit, Syria
  the Strait of Gibraltar, connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain from Morocco
  the Bay of Gibraltar, at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula
  the Gulf of Corinth, an enclosed sea between the Ionian Sea and the Corinth Canal
  the Pagasetic Gulf, the gulf of Volos, south of the Thermaic Gulf, formed by the Mount Pelion peninsula
  the Saronic Gulf, the gulf of Athens, between the Corinth Canal and the Mirtoan Sea
  the Thermaic Gulf, the gulf of Thessaloniki, located in the northern Greek region of Macedonia
  the Kvarner Gulf, Croatia
  the Gulf of Lion, south of France
  the Gulf of Valencia, east of Spain
  the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and Calabrian peninsula
  the Gulf of Genoa, northwestern Italy
  the Gulf of Venice, northeastern Italy
  the Gulf of Trieste, northeastern Italy
  the Gulf of Taranto, southern Italy
  the Gulf of Saint Euphemia, southern Italy, with the international airport nearby
  the Gulf of Salerno, southwestern Italy
  the Gulf of Gaeta, southwestern Italy
  the Gulf of Squillace, southern Italy
  the Strait of Otranto, between Italy and Albania
  the Gulf of Haifa, northern Israel
  the Gulf of Sidra, between Tripolitania (western Libya) and Cyrenaica (eastern Libya)
  the Strait of Sicily, between Sicily and Tunisia
  the Corsica Channel, between Corsica and Italy
  the Strait of Bonifacio, between Sardinia and Corsica
  the Gulf of İskenderun, between İskenderun and Adana (Turkey)
  the Gulf of Antalya, between west and east shores of Antalya (Turkey)
  the Bay of Kotor, in south-western Montenegro and south-eastern Croatia
  the Malta Channel, between Sicily and Malta
  the Gozo Channel, between Malta Island and Gozo
caption: The Port of Marseille seen from L'Estaque
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